What She Desired Most (1)
The next morning.
“Haa. Haa. Just a bit... just a little more, slowly.”
In a small clearing where birds chirped and warm sunlight filtered through the leaves, the pained groans of a woman on the verge of collapse echoed.
“Run faster.”
“Haa, I can’t! It’s too much, too much!”
Anyone seeing her would think she’d run at least 10 kilometers.
“I can see your feet. Your feet!”
But I showed no mercy for Elia’s weakness.
It had only been 30 minutes since we started exercising, after all.
“Huff, really, I mean it, I can’t go any further, teacher.”
“You’ve still got eight laps left.”
“Kyaaah!”
When Elia asked me to train her in magic, the first thing I ordered wasn’t theory study or spell practice—it was endurance training.
—Endurance training...?
—Yes.
—You mean like running and stuff?
—Yes.
—Huh?
As expected from an academy that still hadn’t adopted such training for mages, Elia’s eyes widened in protest at my words.
—Why does a mage who’s not even a swordsman have to do that...?
‘Guess the curriculum hasn’t changed yet.’
Well, it was a perfectly natural reaction.
The academy, frequented by noble children—especially in the magic department—viewed basic physical training as beneath the dignity of ladies and young masters, so they skipped it.
That’s why the academy’s reputation declined day by day, and the students’ standards followed suit.
It was one of the countless reasons those lawless bastards got away with everything.
Mana was a form of stamina to begin with, yet they neglected something so crucial all for the sake of “dignity.”
That’s why endurance training was my top priority—and the second reason was...
“Is that Elia?”
“Yes?”
“What’s your current class rank?”
“Well...”
Elia’s magic skills were even more dismal than I’d imagined.
“D-Class.”
In the academy’s A-to-E ranking system for students, she was in D-Class.
‘Was she always this bad?’
It was near the bottom tier.
‘This won’t be easy.’
I knew from the original story that her skills were below average, but there weren’t many details, so I hadn’t realized it was this low.
Either way, the key point was that Elia—lacking both stamina and talent compared to others—needed to put in far more effort.
“That’s enough!”
“Yaaah!”
Thankfully, Elia was keeping up with my grueling schedule without much complaint.
“Haa, haa, haa...”
“Tough, huh?”
Catching her breath with ragged gasps, Elia nodded vigorously at my question.
“Haa. Haa. Water... please, some water.”
Her dazed expression told me she was truly exhausted.
Most people would’ve quit and left by now, but not Elia.
‘Hmm...’
There were other reasons, but the biggest one was probably her stubborn father.
Elia Miguel.
In the original story, her brief appearance showed her enduring harsh academic demands from her father, who was just an ordinary mage.
She’d hole up in the library every day studying magic.
—Staying up all night again?
—Ah, yes, senior!
—You’ll wear your bones out studying like that~
And that’s how she naturally grew close to Astria.
It could’ve ended as a wholesome tale of youthful friendship.
But then...
—D-grade? And you call yourself my daughter!?
—I’m sorry...
—Shut up! If you don’t hit B-grade by next semester, forget the academy—drop everything!
Her father’s expectations were overwhelming for a first-year like Elia.
—Senior Astria, is there a way to jump straight to B-grade in one go?
In the end, she turned to her close senior and the academy’s strongest mage, Astria, for help.
—What? Nah, no such thing exists.
—...Yeah, figured as much.
Even Astria’s genius couldn’t work miracles like turning D to B overnight, so Elia got no real help.
—Focus your mana here...
She pushed herself with intense spell practice, pulling all-nighters every day.
Until...
—Kyaaaaah!
Boom—!
...a mana overload accident burned her body to death.
‘Not many weeks left now.’
The incident happened just days after the semester started, so with the new term approaching, her remaining time was similarly short.
“Break’s over.”
“Huh?”
Now that Elia was under my wing, I’d decided to change her tragic fate.
Among various reasons, the biggest was that her death would deal Astria a massive mental blow.
—Elia!? Open your eyes!
—...
—Please! Open your eyes, please...
A severe one.
Just imagining Astria weeping endlessly over her close junior, burned by mana, made my stomach turn.
“Just a little longer! Can’t I rest more?”
“No.”
“Really!?”
“Yes.”
“Hiiing...”
That’s why I gave Elia no breaks at all.
To prevent tragedy for everyone.
**
“Finally... it’s over...”
Her first training session ended as the sun dipped low.
“Not as bad as you thought, right?”
I tossed the words at Elia, who was drenched in sweat.
“No way!?”
“Oh?”
No sooner had I spoken than Elia puffed her cheeks like a chipmunk and started whining at me.
“Well, once you build up stamina, it’ll get easier.”
“Really!?”
Watching her, I couldn’t resist teasing more, so I grinned.
“Nah, when that happens, I’ll make it even harder.”
“Eh.”
Her cheeks flushed red as she whined, and laughter bubbled up unbidden.
“Stop teasing me for real!!”
“Haha, alright.”
It was the first everyday moment like this since my reincarnation.
At the academy, I’d been constantly busy—fighting, getting cursed at—with no time for this.
“Um, Karl... sir?”
“Yeah?”
As useless past memories flooded my mind, Elia—who’d been whining moments ago—looked at me and spoke.
“How good are you at magic, exactly?”
“Magic, huh?”
She followed up by asking about my skills.
“Ah! I’m not doubting you or anything, I’m just purely curious how much better you are than me...”
She backpedaled with excuses, but her intent was clear: she doubted my abilities.
Well, can’t blame her.
If even I promised to teach magic but only made her do stamina training, I’d wonder too.
‘Is that guy really good at magic?’
To clear the misunderstanding, I needed to show her my true level.
I’d planned to anyway.
“Well, I’m not that great.”
I had confidence in my magic, but it’d been ages since I cast openly, so I prepared humbly.
“Still...”
I extended my hand toward a massive boulder ahead and gathered mana.
It swelled to head-sized in seconds.
Boom!
I unleashed it, and the boulder shattered to pieces.
“Something simple like that.”
“Eh?”
Elia’s eyes went wide, flicking between the pulverized rock and me.
Of course.
The academy—once a place of true learning, now just networking for “seniors” and “juniors”—had few with even this level of skill.
So Elia’s shock at this casual display was inevitable.
“That much mana... without a wand?”
“A wand’s just a conduit between mana and the user.”
Plus, I’d done it without the wand every mage clutches, which must’ve seemed otherworldly to Elia, raised in the academy’s narrow pond.
“Superior physical ability lets you output this without that wooden stick.”
“A-amazing.”
She couldn’t stop marveling.
“No, no—with practice, you could surpass me easily.”
I shook my head at her praise.
“...Me?”
“Yes.”
Hearing she could grow beyond me, Elia beamed like a child.
“You mean it!?”
“I don’t lie.”
She looked ready to fly with joy.
“Thank you!”
I smiled softly watching her.
After all, nothing beat this peaceful daily life.